IUP Athletic Hall of Fame
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Mary Lou Kraynak was fresh out of Purchase Line High School in 1968 when she landed a job in IUP’s athletic department. A temp job, she figured.
Kraynak planned to stay a few years, earn a college degree and then perhaps begin a career as a business teacher. But working in athletics, she discovered, was just too much fun. So Kraynak stayed, the teenage newbie blossoming into an indispensable employee who helped keep things running smoothly.
She wound up serving the university for 31 years, mostly as an administrative assistant in the athletic department, working closely with Herm Sledzik, Frank Cignetti, Frank Condino, Ruth Podbielski and Frances Nee. Kraynak handled a wide range of duties—processing athletic scholarships, filling season ticket orders and collecting funds from the many youngsters who participated in summer camps run by IUP coaches, to name just a few—before retiring in 1999 to care for an ill family member.
Long a supporter of IUP athletic teams, Kraynak is still a fixture at IUP sporting events, especially basketball and football games. She resides in Starford.
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